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MLB stars commit to 'All-Star Series' in Japan

8/15/14: Robinson Cano belts a fly ball over the right-field wall for a solo homer, extending the Mariners' lead to four runs in the 3rd

By Paul Casella
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MLB.com |

For some of Major League Baseball's best players, the games won't end in October this year.

All-Stars Robinson Cano, Adam Jones, Albert Pujols and Yasiel Puig will highlight a group of Major Leaguers, led by Rangers manager Ron Washington, who will travel to Japan in November to take part in a five-game All-Star Series against Japan's national team, Samurai Japan. The rest of the Major League All-Star roster will be announced at a later date.

The "All-Star Series 2014" marks the 11th such All-Star Series, though it's the first since 2006. It will be the 36th time overall, dating back to 1908, that a team of big leaguers has traveled to Japan for exhibition games.

The five-game format that will be used this fall was first introduced during that last All-Star Series in 2006, which was swept by a Major League team that included All-Stars such as Bronson Arroyo, Ryan Howard, John Lackey, Joe Mauer, Joe Nathan, Jose Reyes, David Wright and Chase Utley.

The All-Star Series will feature three games in Tokyo (Nov. 14-16), bookended by one game each in Osaka (Nov. 12) and Sapporo (Nov. 18). In addition to the five-game All-Star Series, the Major League team will also participate in a pair of exhibition games -- one on Nov. 11 against the Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants in Koshien and the other on Nov. 20 versus Team Japan in Okinawa.

Paul Casella is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @paul_casella. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.